According to Warren and Palmer, in the Sumerian culture from which the Jaredites came, model boats have been found in excavations of houses in various places. A model boat (see illustration) gives some idea concerning typical Mesopotamian water-borne commerce. Such a boat could have been a major mode of transportation by the Jaredites on the first part of their journey up the Euphrates River. The Jaredites also built large "barges" (Ether 2:6) to cross the inland seas ("many waters"--"the sea in the wilderness"--Ether 2:6,7) and "barges after the manner which they had built" (Ether 2:16) to cross the ocean ("that great sea which divideth the lands"--Ether 2:16) In the Sumerian culture, commerce extended throughout the Persian Gulf and even outside of it into Oman and Pakistan. Ocean-going vessels were constructed from wood in large shipyards.
It is also clear that large barges were constructed in Mesoamerica subsequent to 1500 B.C. They would have been used among other things to move enormous Olmec heads over long distances in the state of Veracruz. [Bruce W. Warren and David A. Palmer, The Jaredite Saga, ch. 4, unpublished]
Ether 2:6 They did build barges, in which they did cross many waters (Illustration): A model boat that gives some idea concerning typical Mesopotamian water-borne commerce. [Bruce W. Warren and David A. Palmer, The Jaredite Saga, ch. 4, unpublished]
“They Did Cross Many Waters”
While traveling in "the wilderness," the group who followed Jared and his brother "did cross many waters" (Ether 2:6). According to Hugh Nibley, it is a fact that in ancient times the plains of Asia were covered with "many waters," which have now disappeared but are recorded as existing well down into historic times; they were of course far more abundant in Jared's time. . . . "The face of the country may have differed considerably from what it is now," says Vernadsky, "the rivers were much deeper and many lakes were still left from the glacial age which later turned into swamps." . . . The steady and continual drying up of the Asiatic "heartland" since the end of the last ice age . . . is a relatively recent discovery. Whoever wrote the book of Ether showed remarkable foresight in mentioning waters rather than deserts along the migrants' way, for most of the deserts are of very recent origin, while nearly all the ancient waters have completely vanished. [Hugh Nibley, The World of the Jaredites, pp. 183-184]
Glenn Scott writes that one of those records which documents these vast areas of water in central Asia was written in the fifth century B.C. by Herodotus, who explored the land of the Sythians between the Caspian Sea and Lake Balkhash. Even as late as his time, the land presented formidable water barriers to travel. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 29]
Geographical [Theory Map]: Ether 2:6 Travel in the Wilderness--across Many Waters (Year )